


On Thin Ice

by tiny_hands_hongjoong



Series: The Slightly Unhyped Enhypen [1]
Category: ENHYPEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Angst, Exhaustion, Fainting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Ice Skating, M/M, Sickfic, Spooning, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:34:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27138065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiny_hands_hongjoong/pseuds/tiny_hands_hongjoong
Summary: "Hyung, stop, you're embarrassing me.""Sunghoon, I need to step in otherwise you won't look after yourself."Sunghoon is committed, maybe too much so. While he thinks he's being reasonable, he's actually just letting his health deteriorate and causing worry for his loving boyfriend.
Relationships: Park Jongseong | Jay/Park Sunghoon
Series: The Slightly Unhyped Enhypen [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980910
Comments: 12
Kudos: 106





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm carrying the whole fandom here, I'm the first to write Enhypen sickfics. This is also posted on wattpad under the user keonheesarms so if you see that, it's me. If you see it elsewhere though... Please tell me
> 
> Forewarning: I know nothing about figure skating, I'm very sorry if I get something wrong! If you are going to correct me, please do it politely :)
> 
> Ok these notes are getting extensive, but his thoughts were meant to be in italics but that didn't really transfer from the Google Doc...

Even the corridor seemed like too much, a seemingly endless tunnel of doubt and darkness and- oh, there's the lightswitch. 

Sunghoon winced as the yellow-y light flooded into the corners of the corridor, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light. It was all a bit harsh on his half-awake brain, intense lights and strangely-placed lightswitches, as well as the faint smell of eggs and toast, but he eventually emerged from the corridor and into the open kitchen and living area. There stood his boyfriend, in all of his glory, wearing a pair of grey sweats and no shirt, hair unruly which was hardly unexpected at this time of the morning. 

It was at this moment that Sunghoon began to wonder what time it really was, checking the watch on his wrist only to find that it wasn't there. With no energy to roll his eyes, he trudged across the kitchen floor, its cool tiles a shocking change of temperature to his feet, until he reached at last the arms of his boyfriend, which were currently occupied with cooking and ensuring he wouldn't accidentally burn the apartment to ashes. 

Sunghoon's arms snaked around Jay's waist, knowing that such a distraction could earn them a deadly fire, or worse, a broken egg yolk, but he had already made his mind up that he wouldn't mind being smoked alive if it meant he could nuzzle his nose into his boyfriend's shoulder blade, which he was sure couldn't be very comfortable for Jay but nevertheless he continued. 

"Did you get much rest, sleeping beauty?" Jay asked with a grin, glancing over his shoulder at the face of the sleepy boy leaning on his shoulder. Sunghoon shrugged, but it went unseen by Jay. "Sunghoon?" 

"Mhmm?" He was still half-asleep, apparently, as he closed his eyes and ran his fingers down Jay's arm that he wasn't using, the warmth of his skin bringing a smile from Sunghoon as he interlaced their fingers. 

"Remember that you have your competition today," Jay said, making dread rain over Sunghoon's decent mood. It wasn't like Sunghoon disliked skating, he loved it like his life depended on it, but now wasn't exactly a great time. 

"What time is it?" Sunghoon eventually asked as Jay served the eggs onto plates with the toast that he had made. Sunghoon groaned as he buried his face in Jay's shoulder again to block out the strong smell of eggs. 

"Almost seven. We should be quick, really, since you have to be there before 9," Jay reminded him as he placed a plate on the table, and Sunghoon sat down with a frown on his face. If he wasn't already feeling bad enough, force feeding himself eggs and toast wasn't going to make anything any better. 

Against his better judgement, he did it anyway. 

If he felt like he had a choice, he would spend the whole day in bed, preferably cuddling Jay, but that wasn't an option. Instead, he had to suffer through a whole day of pain, exhaustion and being cold all over. 

He glanced up at Jay who sat across from him, wishing that it would be easy for him to tell him he wasn't hungry. But he knew from experience that Jay doesn't just let things go unquestioned, he demands the truth until he is satisfied. Sunghoon knew that Jay always had the best intentions, but sometimes it made him feel trapped. 

Finishing breakfast was a faraway goal that Sunghoon eventually completed, but it came with a price. He was already feeling nauseous, like waves had washed over him and submerged him below the world of the living. So much so, that he almost didn't notice Jay saying his name. 

"Sunghoon-ah, we don't have time to stand around, okay? I'll clean the dishes and you need to go and put your outfit on under your clothes," Jay said, and Sunghoon nodded without really taking in the words. The sentences passed through a long, grueling mechanism in his brain before he finally processed it, and he went to his room to get dressed. 

-

It wasn't the most comfortable outfit, he thought as he entered the rink for practice. The skates felt unfamiliar for once, and he felt unsteady on the ice, like a child standing up after falling. But he had to push through, since this wasn't just a practice, this was the last rehearsal before the real thing. 

He jumped too early on his first jump and stepped out, wincing not only at his mistake but also at the increased pulsing in his head. He glanced over to Jay, hoping he didn't notice, but quickly glanced back onto the ice as he scolded himself for getting distracted. He knew that he made other mistakes, mistakes that would cost him points in the performance, but not the kind that were blatantly obvious for everyone to see. Nevertheless, he felt like he'd let himself down. 

How could he perform when he was feeling like this? 

His mind felt foggy as he left the rink, hands shaking as he slid the skate guards that he was given onto the metal blades. He searched for Jay with unfocused eyes, heading towards him when he spotted him. He knew that it must have been obvious, with his bad posture and slight stumbles as if it was his first time walking in skates. 

Luckily Jay didn't seem to mention a thing as he sat down next to him in the stands, feeling like he had just finished a marathon as he leaned his head on Jay's shoulder. 

"Hoonie, let's go backstage for a minute, yeah?" Jay said as Sunghoon went over his mistakes in his head, and he nodded briefly without listening much. He felt like he was being spiteful, ignoring Jay like this, but trying to focus would take enough effort to give him a serious headache. Or at least a headache more serious than what was already pulsing pain through his temples. 

Jay led the way backstage, and Sunghoon had to quickly grab his hand to avoid bumping into a member of staff who was coming the other way. The void in his brain was expanding, and he was feeling more gone every second. The world around him was becoming dreamlike, so much so that he didn't take much notice as Jay took him to lie down backstage, and he tumbled into a dreamless sleep. 

-

Sunghoon woke with a groan, the sounds around him bouncing back and forth inside of his skull, with the intense light scattering his thoughts. He reached out and grabbed what he vaguely recalled as his boyfriend's elbow, pulling himself to his feet as Jay spoke to him in an urgent tone. 

"...can't...today...dangerous," Sunghoon nodded along to the unprocessed words as a member of staff guided them towards the entrance of the actual rink, while he was still blinking the sleep out of his eyes. 

"When does it start?" he asked, shaking his head to try to wake himself up, but instead he reactivated his nausea. 

"Now, Sunghoon. Everyone is getting ready for a warm-up skate." They brought him up to the entrance and took off the extra coat that he didn't know he was wearing, leaving him with only his outfit and a jacket over the top. The cold air inside the rink hit him before he was actually hit with the realisation that he had to perform now. 

Jay gave him a kiss on the cheek and rushed over to his seat, leaving Sunghoon at the gate to the ice rink. He watched as everyone else practiced, some of them doing a jump just for boasting purposes. Honestly, he felt like he would be lucky just to not fall over. 

He almost went on the ice without taking the guards off, but the staff member behind him quickly grabbed him and reminded him, their loud voice being drowned out by the ambience in the rink. Sunghoon leaned on the outside of the thin wall as he reached towards the bottom of his skate, feeling too close to the ground as he pulled the plastic cover off his skate, unsteadily repeating the action with the other skate. 

Finally, he was set to enter the rink, now only having two minutes left to warm up. He slid slowly onto the ice, familiarising himself with the feeling once again as he urged his legs not to shake. His weight felt too heavy to carry, as if his legs had turned into toothpicks. 

He was tempted to keep his arms in front of him just in case he fell, but he knew that he would just look immature. Instead, Sunghoon glanced over to Jay and the latter smiled and gave him a thumbs up, but Sunghoon didn't feel like it was boosting his motivation. He felt like he was just going to suffer like this forever, and he was beginning to regret the times that he took normal human functioning for granted. 

As he watched the other skaters leave the ice one by one, he shook his head again and rubbed his eyes, going over the most vital parts of the choreography in his mind as he skated to the edge of the rink to take off his jacket. 

At least I'm first, he thought, I'll just get it over with. 

Oh, how wrong he was. 

He tried his best to stay still in his starting position, eyes closed as he wished upon his last flicker of hope that this would be a good show for him. 

His start wasn't too bad - though he couldn't see the state of his posture - the slow beginning letting him adjust. There weren't too many jumps in this, but the first thing that should bring him technical points was a spin that was making him feel dizzy just thinking about it. 

He felt lost, his muscle memory guiding him shakily through the performance. He wasn't sure if he'd even landed a single jump correctly yet, and the sit spin was still making his head spin. 

It can't go unsaid; Sunghoon was losing his interest in his score and cared more about making it to the end. 

He had one last jump left, the one with the most rotations out of all of the ones he did. If that wasn't bad enough, it was in combination. He was beginning to despise his own ambition, as well as his poor choreographer whose work wasn't being put to justice by Sunghoon's weak performance of it. 

Back outside edge, check. Momentum, check. Balance? 

There was so much to think about, but his mind went blank as he entered the jump. He watched as the floor disappeared beneath his feet and then came closer and closer, so close he could touch it with his hand, his body wanting to shut down right at that moment. 

Put he forced himself to reboot, like a dead body getting a jolt of electricity. 

He didn't land the jump, falling and just about catching himself with his hands. The momentum almost flung him forwards, but he picked himself up again, with only one last spin to go. 

Skating around the rink, he felt like he didn't deserve this. A crowd, a competition, a loyal boyfriend cheering him on, when all he could do was fall, fall, fall. 

The spin was the last straw. 

At least it was the last thing he had to do, but he made almost 20 rotations with just that one spin, the sound of metal scraping against ice making his ears ring. The blur of the ice rink around him was disorientating, the spinning of his vision not stopping even as he slowed down and finished the spin. There was silence, then he faintly heard a scattered round of applause as he almost tripped on his way to leave the main rink. 

He felt like he could collapse at any moment, his head pounding and his body aching as he finally left the rink and felt an arm around his waist that guided him backstage before he could even wait for his results. Every step felt like a knock on his skull, repetitive and insistent on worsening his raging headache. 

He leaned heavily on the side of the person guiding him, his body too weak to carry itself anymore. Then there was a coat being placed around his shoulders, he became aware that he was sitting down and being carefully guided into a lying down position, his body thanking him for the much needed rest. 

-

It was difficult to tell whether he slept for 2 minutes or 2 hours, but when he woke up he felt just as terrible as before, if not worse because he was very quickly gaining awareness, now unable to be shielded by numbness. 

He didn't open his eyes, but instead he grabbed the shirt of the closest person, presumably Jay, and mumbled,  
"Hyung, dizzy," 

Preferably, he would have said more, but he didn't want to keep his mouth open much longer as he feared that he wouldn't be able to contain the bile that was rising up his throat. 

"Christ, Hoonie, you don't look well. Are you going to throw up?" Jay asked as he was already placing his arms around Sunghoon to help him up. Sunghoon nodded, unsure as to whether Jay saw him nod, and winced as he swallowed to avoid anything more embarrassing than this already was. 

Eyes closed to avoid the light, Sunghoon blindly followed Jay as he rushed him down a corridor and swung a door open. The sound of the door hitting the frame made Sunghoon let out a quiet gasp as the sound vibrated in his skull, and he sunk to the floor as his stomach lurched, forcing the contents of his stomach up his throat as he barely managed to hold himself above the floor. 

"Hoonie, not there! I take you to the toilets and you throw up on the floor?" 

Sunghoon shook his head as he hiccupped, sitting against the outside wall of a cubicle as he pulled his knees up against his chest. 

"Sorry hyung…" Sunghoon mumbled, his arms wrapped protectively around his stomach. His newfound comfy position didn't last long though, as a second wave of nausea hit him. He opened his eyes and was now somehow placed in front of the toilet, and he could feel Jay's arm around him and his hand in his hair to hold it back. 

He hiccupped and brought up more vomit, the stomach acid burning his mouth as if someone had given him an ice-burn inside his throat. He spat one last mouthful of vomit into the toilet bowl, his stomach now feeling unexplainably full and empty at the same time. 

Sunghoon leaned back against Jay, almost feeling guilty for throwing up on the floor. Almost. He sniffled back tears, hoping that Jay wouldn't notice, and played with Jay's fingers as his breathing evened out. 

He felt exhausted again, closing his eyes and falling half-asleep almost instantly. 

Though his eyes were closed and he couldn't do much by himself, he could briefly hear the conversations around him, such as Jay speaking to a member of staff and then whispering to him that they only had to wait a bit longer before they could go home. Jay could really be the best boyfriend, when he wasn't scolding him. 

Sunghoon was awake enough to feel Jay taking his skates off his feet, almost giggling at his struggle to tug them off without waking him up. Eventually they were off and Sunghoon's feet felt free, but his toes became very cold, very quickly, and he subconsciously whined to Jay without really forming any words. 

Jay put his shoes on for him and tied his laces, then he put the hood up on the coat to keep his ears warm as they waited to leave. Sunghoon was half sitting, half lying down as he drifted between being awake and asleep. His hands instinctively reached around Jay's waist and grabbed little handfuls of his grey hoodie in a rather endearing manner. 

"Park Sunghoon, you're up next for an interview." 

Sunghoon groaned and hid his face in Jay's arm as Jay began to explain that they would be going straight home as soon as possible. 

"The interview is a scheduled event, it cannot just be cancelled," the staff member argued. Sunghoon didn't mind, she was just doing her job, but Jay didn't seem to think quite the same as him. 

"I don't care, he's not in the condition to be interviewed right now, can't you see he's exhausted?" Jay responded, keeping his voice down despite being angry so that he didn't disturb Sunghoon. 

"You'll have to make do with his condition-"  
"Let them go, Jinsoo, I insist," came another voice, and Sunghoon felt grateful for the defense from his manager. 

The man gave the pair a pat on the back, sighing as he said,  
"Sorry about that, Jay-yah. You take him home and get him rested, okay?" 

"Yes sir, thank you sir," Jay said as he bowed slightly on his way to leave, dragging a half-conscious Sunghoon with him.


	2. Chapter 2

The taxi ride home felt almost awkward, with Sunghoon being too unaware to engage in much of a conversation. Nevertheless, he tried. 

"How did I do, hyung?" Sunghoon asked quietly, frowning when he heard Jay sigh. 

"You got second to last, honey. But don't beat yourself up over it, I'm amazed that you managed to be better than last place in your condition," Jay said as he rubbed his shoulder reassuringly, and Sunghoon nodded nonchalantly. 

"Oh…" he mumbled, sighing deeply as he leaned closer to Jay, "that's a shame." 

-

Once they got home, Jay led him inside and lay him down on the couch as he went and turned the heating on in the house. He took both of their coats off, much to Sunghoon's disapproval, and carried him all the way up the stairs to help him get changed. 

The outfit was difficult to take off, feeling as if the top half was sticking to his skin. Jay helped him to take it off with difficulty, while Sunghoon himself closed his eyes and leaned sleepily against Jay. 

Once he was dressed in a set of cosy pyjamas, Jay took him to the bathroom to brush his teeth (he couldn't not do this, after watching him throw up earlier), then at last he carried him bridal style to their bedroom, laying him on the bed with a kind of delicacy that Sunghoon had never seen him treat anyone with before. 

As if on autopilot, Sunghoon grabbed onto Jay's hoodie as he tried to leave the room, silently begging him to stay in the room with him. Jay grinned, taking off his hoodie so that he wouldn't be too warm as he climbed into bed beside Sunghoon, wrapping his arms around the skater's waist. 

Sunghoon rolled over and nuzzled his nose against Jay's shoulder as he held on tightly to Jay as much as his weak arms would allow. 

"Rest, honey, you deserve it," Jay whispered as Sunghoon began to drift, his boyfriend's protective arms holding him securely, as if he would never let go. 

-

Sunghoon was awoken from his sleep by the ringing of his phone, wincing as he reached over to reject the call, but stopped himself as he read the caller ID. Sighing, he picked up the phone and answered it, sitting up slightly and playing with Jay's hair as the older boy slept soundly. 

"Sunghoon-ah! Are you coming to practice today? It starts soon, I don't want you to miss anything." 

"Oh, yeah I'm on my way. There's just, um, there's a lot of traffic," Sunghoon said as he got out of bed and stood up, leaning against the wall to keep himself steady. 

"Oh okay. Be quick, hyung!" 

Sunghoon hung up, almost tempting himself to go back to bed but he decided against it, forcing himself to get dressed out of his pyjamas and to brush his teeth. He swayed a bit as he held onto the bannister of the stairs, the trek down them seeming much more distant than usual. 

Slowly, he went down one step at a time until he, at last, reached the bottom of the stairs. His head was spinning again but he held up against it, shoving on his normal shoes and taking the box with his skates in with him. He noticed that they had been properly cleaned since yesterday, making him smile slightly at the thought of Jay getting out of bed while trying not to disturb him so that he could sort out his skates. 

He called a taxi and waited for it indoors with a mug of tea in his hands, occasionally sipping it in hopes of it waking him up. He only half-finished it as he heard the taxi beeping from outside, and he placed it on the counter as he quickly left the house without even grabbing a coat, immediately regretting it because of the cold air. 

Sunghoon tried to keep himself awake as the taxi slowly arrived, and he struggled to focus as he counted the money to give to the taxi driver. He got into the fairly empty rink with no problem, the place much quieter now that there were only a few skaters doing practice sessions. 

His friend approached him with a wave from a distance, but he stopped as he glided closer. He leaned over the wall as he spoke,  
"Hyung, are you okay? You know you aren't required to come to practice the day after the competition if you need to recover." 

Sunghoon nodded briefly, but he shook his head as he processed what they said.  
"No, I'm fine, I'll be fine," he insisted, thinking that would be the end of it but his friend refused. 

"No, I'm not going to let you practice looking like that. I'm going to call Jay-hyung to come and get you," they said, coming to the gap in the wall to step out of the rink as they fished in a deep pocket in their coat for their phone. 

Sunghoon pouted as they made him sit on a bench to one side, feeling useless again as he half-listened into the conversation between his friend and boyfriend. He heard Jay mention his condition yesterday and crossed his arms over his chest as if Jay could see that he was annoyed at him. 

Usually he wouldn't be like this - pouty, grumpy and clingy - but how could he help it when he was stuck between being annoyed by his boyfriend and missing him? 

The phone call ended, and not five minutes later the door swung open and Jay ran in, being scolded by a skater that he shouldn't run near the rink. He slowed down to a fast walk, eyes fixed on Sunghoon as he approached him with his 'scolding face' on. 

"You, up now. Get in the taxi, we'll talk about this when we get back," Jay said, and Sunghoon nodded as he held Jay's hand to help him up. He wanted to cry, not only was he feeling bad, but he was now being humiliated at work and his boyfriend was not pleased with him one bit. 

"Hyung, stop, you're embarrassing me," Sunghoon complained, but he didn't make much effort to break from his grasp as he guided him in the direction of the exit. 

"Sunghoon, I need to step in otherwise you won't look after yourself. Would you prefer if I let you embarrass yourself?" Jay said as he picked up the pace to not keep the taxi driver waiting. 

Sunghoon shrugged, trying to take Jay's arm away from around his waist. 

"Hyung, I want to do it by myself! Even if it means I fall or get hurt, I don't want to be treated like a lost puppy anymore! So quit fussing over me," he complained, loud enough for the rink to go quieter after he said it. He looked down at the ground, realising how childish he sounded. He literally could barely walk right now and Jay had come here in a taxi at a ridiculous time in the morning just to help him get home, and he was complaining? 

He didn't know whether he should take it back or leave it, but he felt guilty and pathetic about it either way. Before he knew it, he was holding back tears as he stared at the floor, not wanting Jay to see him cry. He never cried. 

"Hey, hey, honey calm down, it's okay. Don't cry, okay? Don't cry, there's no need to cry when I'm here for you," Jay said as they both received a questioning look from the woman at the front desk in the entrance. 

"I'm sorry, hyung," Sunghoon sniffled, quickly wiping his eyes as they reached the taxi in the carpark. 

"Don't worry about it, Hoonie. You didn't mean it, right?" Jay asked as they got into the taxi, keeping his arm around Sunghoon's waist even as the taxi set off after Jay told them where to go. 

Sunghoon nodded in response, leaning against his boyfriend as he tried to force himself to stop crying. Jay wiped another tear from his face, pulling him into a hug as he kissed him on the forehead. 

-

Sunghoon leaned on Jay as they came inside the house, sitting down on the sofa with the heating already turned on. 

They took off their shoes and Jay took off his coat, shaking his head as he realised that Sunghoon hadn't brought a coat with him to the ice rink. 

"Do you want to stay sick, hm? Look after yourself, please." Jay held him close, and Sunghoon closed his eyes as he began to relax again, his pain becoming more numb. 

"Listen, honey. I know that you might have been feeling a bit emotional when you said that, but I can take a step back if that's how you feel. I don't want to make you feel humiliated, but it's up to you. But I still care about you a lot, and I can't help but-" 

"'s fine, hyung. I always want you there," Sunghoon mumbled sleepily, making Jay grin slightly before he carried on. 

"But just so you know, I won't be able to stop worrying about you. When I woke up this morning and you weren't there, I panicked so much. You just left out of nowhere, you left no trace except a cold cup of tea. I was so worried, and then I got a call that you were at the ice rink? I had to come and get you before you did something stupid, you know? I'm not saying you would usually do something stupid, but considering the state you were in yesterday, you could have been up to anything." 

"I care about you a lot, so you can use me if you need to. If you need to talk, or you just need a hug, I'm always here for you. All I want is to see you happy, and to see you smiling. I almost cried too when you started crying today, you're too precious to me for me to just watch you like that without getting upset myself. And anyway- hey, are you listening?" 

Jay tapped Sunghoon's shoulder lightly, but there was no response. He didn't know how long ago his boyfriend had fallen asleep, but he definitely wasn't listening to his rant anymore. He sighed, grinning slightly as he ruffled Sunghoon's hair gently. 

"Hoonie… you put me through so much shame, it's embarrassing. I should be angry, but… honey, I could never resent you. Sleep well," Jay said as he leaned down to plant a kiss on Sunghoon's forehead, but he pulled away quickly with a frown. 

"I think you've got a fever… Jesus, Hoonie, why do I put up with you?" Jay smiled, but he was beginning to feel like this wasn't just going to be a 24-hour sickness. If he was right, it was going to be a long day.

**Author's Note:**

> Fun fact: I wrote the idea for this before the final lineup was decided, so if either one of them had been eliminated, I probably would have deleted it and never wrote it.


End file.
